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4 Ways in Which Chargify Rewards Their Remote Team

If your business happens in the web, you need a sure-fire way for your customers to pay you. It needs to be free from hassle, easy to use, and reliable. Chargify has got you covered.

And… You’ve guessed it! Remote teams drive it. Remote developers create its software. Remote workers are the backbone of the company. Most of their employees work in the United States, but are location independent. And some even work from overseas.

This company went from a small team inside a parent company to a major player in the internet payment space. It was even backed by superstar entrepreneur Mark Cuban.

They’ve achieved profitability in their second year and have been growing ever since. Every year, their payment processing offerings. And come up with new solutions. They make life better for anyone buying and selling online.

But the reason we’ve picked Chargify to showcase is a different one. It's because they make a big deal of motivating their employees and are very open about how they do so.

Some would argue that it’s hard to care about your colleagues when you only interact by chat. And even if employees bond, do they fall in love with the core concept of the company? Do they love the team itself?

Money is only one part of the equation. Studies have shown that raising an employee’s salary only motivates them up to a point. After that, motivation plateaus regardless of how much their income increases.

Chargify has mastered the art of using money to add value to their employees’ lives. This lets them build relationships between themselves and the team as a whole.

What follows are the tactics they use to motivate and strengthen their remote team.

Make your remote employees stop working

They realize that people are often hesitant to go on vacation. Partly because of “remote guilt”. Remote employees often feel like they have such a great deal that they feel bad about taking time off work. So management pushes them into vacation.

In fact, Chargify experimented with an unlimited time off option. But they found out that almost no-one took any time off under that policy!

People need time off to refresh and recharge. They’ll come back with new, great ideas. So follow Chargify’s lead, and offer people paid vacations – and make sure they take them!

Help your remote developers grow

Famous guru Tony Robbins once said that happiness is growth. Money can only take you so far, but if you feel like you’re growing and advancing in the field you choose, then you’ll be happy.

In other words, when you invest in your education, you’re investing in your happiness.

Chargify takes this idea to heart, and provides an unlimited education budget. It encourages employees to spend whatever they think is reasonable on educational resources. This means books, audio books, and courses.

Chargify employees are even free to talk to their managers about conference attendance fees, if they feel they’ll grown as a result. The company realizes that an investment in the employee is an investment in the company’s growth.

There is such a thing as a free lunch

Of course, remote teams often miss out on the experience of lunching together. But they don’t have to!

Once a month, the Chargify development team hosts a “Lunch & Learn” event. This is a way for each person to let others know a bit more about him / herself and share some expertise. For this event, a team member prepares a topic in advance and then teaches it to the rest of the team over lunch.

And guess what? Chargify pays for the lunch. So it’s both learning AND a free lunch! Delicious!

Even remote teams enjoy giving

Giving feels great, and who doesn’t like to get a gift, as well? Chargify has worked hard to embed the giving spirit into their culture.

So you have things like what they call “Conspiracy Santa”, their own take on secret santa. Every December, the team gathers in groups to figure out gifts for each other. The person receiving the gift doesn’t know what they’ll be getting, but all the other participants share gift ideas for them and vote on the best gift to give. They have a stipend of 100 dollars per gift, which Chargify covers.

But that’s not the only example of gift-giving. The CEO and directors distribute gift-cards on special occasions. Or when they want to to reward a job particularly well done.

Of course, sometimes the best gift is knowing that you’re making a difference out in the world. That’s where Chargify’s charitable donations policy comes in. Once a year, each employee selects one charity of their choice. The company donates $150 to each employee’s pick.

Make your money have more impact

Chargify doesn’t make an argument against compensating employees adequately. That’s a necessity for having high-performing, motivated individuals. But past a certain threshold, an increased salary is no recipe for happiness. It does little to make an employee love his employer, and nothing for team building.

Chargify is smart about how they spend their money for maximum benefit. All the things outlined above cost money, of course. But it’s not that much, and it translates into more capable and engaged remote teams and employees.

You can also have a killer global team. We at DistantJob will help you find expert developers to fill key positions. We’ll give you the peace of mind that comes with having highly motivated employees. You’ll be working with developers that are among the best in the world.